Following a decisive third loss to top featherweight Frankie Edgar in 2014, BJ ‘The Prodigy’ Penn (16-10-2 MMA) announced his official retirement at the post fight press conference.
Penn stated “this is the end”, and I hoped it would be.
Penn’s last three fights have all been one sided losses and have seen him take more punishment than anyone would care see again.
Nick Diaz hit him so many times he broke the record for significant strikes landed in a UFC fight, making him all but retire in the cage. In his post-fight interview BJ said “I can’t keep going home like this” before leaving the cage.
Then it was a return bout with Rory MacDonald that again saw him taking a one sided beating, before dropping two weight classes to featherweight and meeting a similar fate against Frankie Edgar.
In November 2015, the former lightweight and welterweight UFC champion announced he was coming out of retirement to chase a never before achieved third world title in a third weight division.
Penn was slated to return at UFC 199 this past June, though failed an out of competition drug test and will be sidelined for a further six months. The Hawaiian still remains eager to return and even called out old rival Georges St-Pierre for a trilogy fight.
By the time the 28 fight veteran is cleared to compete again he will be 38 years old, two and a half years removed from his last MMA contest, sporting a recent 1-5-1 record over his last seven fights. Penn hasn’t recorded a win inside the octagon since beating Matt Hughes back at UFC 123 in 2010.
Hughes wound up fighting once more before hanging up the gloves for good, something the former champion should do also.
Nobody has ever questioned Penn’s heart or willingness to fight all comers. He has fought weighing 145 pounds to weighing in at 191 pounds in an open weight bout against future UFC champion Lyoto Machida. He is also one of only two men to win UFC titles in two different weight classes and has already been inducted in to the UFC hall of fame.
For his UFC return he has linked with famed trainer Greg Jackson who believes he still has what it takes to compete with the best.
Penn will be entering a division boasting three men in the top ten of the UFC pound for pound rankings in the very man who already beat him three times Frankie Edgar, former long-time featherweight king Jose Aldo, and one of the biggest names in UFC, Connor McGregor.
Things will not go well for the man known as Baby Jay should he meet any of these fighters, or anyone among the top of the featherweight division.
He has already taken more than enough punishment inside the cage, and with nothing left to prove should stay retired at this point.
Reece Huxley
Roar Rookie
I didn't say he took steroids or ped's, he broke the rules which goes down as a failed test per USADA regulations. BJ is one of my favorite fighters so not bad mouthing him
Mayhem
Guest
BJ Penn dos not fail a drug test. He was punished for taking too much of a medication through an IV. Even though the substance wasnr banned and the IV wasn't used for rehydration purposes.